Yes, it is a reference to the Jonathan Coulton song, hence why the main character's name is Jon (not a reference to my name *gasp*). I love this song and randomly thought I could write a story based off the lyrics, so meh, let's see how this goes. 2009 He fiddled about with the wrinkled piece of paper pensively. Every possible scenario played by in his head, every possible combination of words, amazed and disgusted, every possible flood of emotions, jubilation and angst, everything. He carefully unfolded it again, small beads of sweat dirtying it here and there. Dear Laura, Everyday I eye you in sheer awe. Your presence emits a glow that captures and contains the attention of my heart's eye. Never have I had the pleasure of seeing one as beautiful as yourself. Nothing can compare to your radiant angelic appearance; its rays make my soul light up for you. I love you, Anonymous friend Cheesy? Oh yes, very much so. In fact, Jon was thinking about just giving up all together and going about his normal mathematical business that he would typically go about everyday fifth period. He looked up at the clock again: five to. Laura would be there any minute. The tiny beads of sweat augmented into liquid hailstones running down his dark hair. Frantically looking about, he stealthily placed the note on her desk and retreated to his own, sitting down with his eyes glued to the floor for the rest of the class. After not hearing a single word about the derivatives of absolute value functions, he stood up and headed for the door. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Laura standing in the center of a circle of giggling girls. He couldn't make out any words, all he could pick up was light whispering underlying stereotypical schoolgirl laughter. He was far too nervous to wait for a more clear sign; he dashed out of room before another sound from the feminine ring could meet his eardrums. *** Several days had passed, no sign of what Laura's reaction to the note was, though it was fairly obvious to anyone who had an ounce of social ability. Even Jon had essentially figured out what she thought by logic alone, though he suppressed the doubtful thoughts with unreasonable adolescent optimism. Fifth period arrived again. Continuing along with the form of that week, Jon sat at his desk, eying the floor tiles, counting the cracks and dots throughout as to avoid seeing a less-than-perfect reaction from Laura. Suddenly, a shadow obscured his view of crack number fifty-seven. He looked up slowly, then jumped back in shock upon discovering that Laura was hovering over him with a smirk. "Hey there." she said with an heir that was trademark of the stuck up popular type. "H-hi." he said, struggling not to stutter any worse than he already was. "So about that note you wrote me-" She was cut off by an abrupt "WHAT!?" accompanied by the sound of desk legs scratching a tiled floor. As Jon darted up to meet Laura's eye level, he only got more nervous. "I know you wrote that note, hell, the whole class does. You stare at me damn near every minute of this class." Jon looked around, almost every single one of the students was snickering, some were full out laughing, and a handful of them were pointing while doing so. He tuned beet red as he stuttered "W-w-w-w-well..." Laura let out a wailing laugh, borderline guffaw, right in Jon's face. "We have these things called leagues for a reason, kid. I'm way above yours." And with that, she turned around and walked back to her desk. About half way to her destination, she turned to him, blew him a kiss and continued on her way. The bell rang. Jon remained standing, even as the teacher began to write on the board. "Jonathan, sit down. Class has started." Without so much as a breath, he plopped into his seat, eyes looking straight forward at nothing in particular, just the open space before him. He truly didn't expect a good reaction, but he never expected her to do something like that. "Now, I've gotten more than my fair share of complaints about how calculus is 'useless.' Well, today we are going to be applying calculus to outer space; I'm sure more than a few of you have been interested in studying the stars at some point." Space... he thought, as he stared out into the open. If only... if only... the possibilities are endless. An intellectual like me... could make discoveries and breakthroughs that could change the whole world. And maybe... just maybe I could break free of my... league...
D'AWW THAT WAS SO CRUEL D: It was a pretty neat story, basic but sweet. The sweat part kinda grossed me out xD I was expecting a happy ending for once, but the rejection would have been a better choice regardless of how the song goes. ( I've never heard it xD ) The opening paragraph was a bit eh though, you could have introduced Jon a bit better. Even changing a tiny thing like making the first word "Jon" rather than "he" would have improved the introduction of the scene. Nice job <3
Actually that was only the first verse. xD I may or may not write more. I was just really bored last night and needed an excuse to put off my English assignment.
I love you forever. JoCo ftw. Now that I've calmed down I'd like to say that this was a pretty good interpretation and it was well written overall so I have no advice or complaints. It'd be nice if you got through the whole song at some point though.
Oh awesome, someone else who likes his work. I'm feeling a boring night coming on, I'll probably write the next chapter (it'll be one chapter per verse pretty much) at some point tonight. Thanks for the criticism. Alright, here's the next part, since I'm still going through a Jonathan Coulton phase. YAY. 2010 "So, Mister... Coulton... What interests you? What is something you could see yourself doing for the rest of your life?" The rather large, sweaty bald man sat lackadaisically in his desk chair, looking into a manila folder which contained every piece of information that any college would care about regarding Jon's life. Jonn sat in the shoddily constructed, noticeably rusty metal chair, thinking about just what he could want to do in this world that dissatisfied him so. The humid air of the counselor's office didn't help his thought process in the slightest. "Well... I'll probably be some kind of scientist." he said slowly, as if he had to construct every last word on the spot. The counselor nodded lifelessly, "Well what kind of scientist, Jon? There are a lot of sciences in the world today." Jon thought it over again, thinking deeply about just what struck his intellectual fancy. "I wanna invent things. Change the world. Make it a bearable place to live in." Again, the counselor gave a zombie-like nod, completely toning out the mildly antisocial comment at the end of Jon's statement. "Inventing things? Well that takes a great deal of creativity. Think you can be that ingenuous that frequently?" "I know I can, I've been making LEGO castles since age three." he replied in the most serious tone he could muster. The counselor clearly found this quite humorous, as he let out a light chuckle. "I don't think MIT is looking for that sort of prior experience, Mister Coulton. What else have you-" "And I wanna go into space. I wanna live among the stars, looking down on the world, examining it, watching it morph as I change it, turn it into the place that it should be." The counselor's eyes darted up from the papers in front of him and looked dully into Jon's eyes. He smirked and chuckled again, then looked back into the file. "Anyway Mister Coulton, I think-" "I knew it. You don't take me seriously either. No one does. It's something I've grown to accept. 'An inventor? And in space no less? Don't make me laugh!' I get that every time I try to explain it to people. For some reason they can't grasp the concept: what better place exists to mold the Earth from than God's workbench?" "Mister Coulton," the counselor replied, his tone shifting noticeably from amused to slightly shocked, "Let's set reasonable goals here." "Was it a reasonable goal to land a man on the Moon? No, but Kennedy's persistent nature still made it happen, even is he never lived to see it. Anything is possible, any goal attainable, any person... persuadable." "You need to get your head on straight." retorted the counselor, getting noticeably angrier, "How will you ever get a proper college education if you're always focused on being some kind of... futuristic spaceman?" The counselor recollected himself and looked Jon straight in the eye, "You're a senior, Mister Coulton. You are running out of time, you have yet to choose a college." he said, reclining further in his chair and slapping the manila folder down onto his desk. "And it'd be a damn shame if you didn't get into college with your grades. A damn shame." Jon walked over to the counselor's bookshelf, took out a book entitled 'The Ultimate Guide to College Majors,' looked up 'Aeronautic technology,' and randomly pointed to a college on the list with his fully extended index finger. "Happy now?" The counselor sat speechless at the display. After a few seconds of silence, Jon turned to the door, "I won't just stay here and be insulted, not anymore." He jerked on the door and whipped it back, causing it to collide with the wall as it opened with the speed of a rocket. Jon walked out at a normal pace, contrasting greatly with the ruckus he had just caused behind him. Space... just because it's the setting of many a sci-fi movie doesn't mean it it's such a ridiculous place to aspire to reside in... and to change the world from. he though as he strolled the halls, hands in his pockets nonchalantly. People like him are nothing but drones, brainwashed by the stagnant swamp of a world our Earth has become. But no matter... he stopped and turned to his locker. He quickly entered the combination to his lock and opened the door, hinges squeaking as an ode to the school's notorious age. He took out a marble notebook, opened it and smiled a slightly. Someday no one will have to suffer with such a psyche. I'll make sure of it.
